A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going
to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed potatoes; in the second, eggs; and in the last, ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She emptied the potatoes into a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in another bowl. Then, she ladled the coffee out and placed it in yet, another bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see." "Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer to the bowls and asked her to feel the potatoes. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its richness and savored its aroma.
The daughter then asked, "What does this mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity of boiling water, under fire. Each reacted differently.
The potatoes went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water (under fire), it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water (under fire), the inside, beneath the shell became hardened.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water (under fire), they changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?" "Are you a potato, an egg or a
coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the potato that seems strong, but with pain and adversity - do I wilt and become soft and lose my
strength?
Am I, the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the application of heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death; a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside, I am bitter and tough with that of a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I, like the coffee bean?
The bean actually changes the hot water (under fire), the very circumstance that brings adversity and pain. When the water gets hot enough, it releases a fragrance and particular flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get even better and the situation around you changes.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are at their greatest, "are you elevated to a higher level?"
How do you handle adversity? Are you a potato, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough joy to make you tender, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you trusting and enough hope to help you understand.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything through faith, that comes their way.
The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of things, past or present.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling
and everyone around you is crying.
Just wanted to send a message to those people who mean something to me (and, I JUST DID); to those who have touched my life - in one way or another; to those who make me smile - when I really need it most; to those who help me see the brighter side of things - when you are really down; to those whose friendship is appreciated. Let's All drink and be like COFFEE!
JER
Author
Topic: Who wants coffee ?? (Read 4238 times)